4/26/08

A Haitian Organization's perspective on the current food crisis

The Préval/Alexis government, upon its arrival in power in 2006, pledged to address two major challenges: insecurity and the high cost of living. In terms of insecurity, even if a lot remains to be done, one need not exaggerate to say that the government has produced numerous efforts toward bringing calm to areas of risk-those completely controlled by armed gangs, most notably Cité Soleil, Bel'Air, Grand-Ravine, Martissant, Gonaives, etc. Several gang leaders have been arrested. Numerous kidnappers have been judged and convicted over the course of the 2006 and 2007 criminal trials. This has fostered a climate of calm, and activities that were previously paralyzed have been able to restart. However, no effort has been made to improve the population's socioeconomic conditions, particularly regarding food. In the space of two years, the Haitian population has witnessed a phenomenal rise in the price of basic necessities making the right to food, one aspect of the right to life, a violated right. An eruption of the situation was to be expected.